


Wounded Beast

by Relina



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-03 03:36:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11523726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Relina/pseuds/Relina
Summary: Kain is an ordinary kitchen boy at the castle. It's a busy day, but perhaps an adventure awaits?A short fairytale-like story about Kain and the world he lives in.





	Wounded Beast

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written a long time ago. I wrote it for a school assignment and found it while packing. I read it and was pretty amazed at how well-written I thought it was. It was originally written in Danish so I've translated it and added a few finishing touches I thought it was missing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

The wind thundered past.  
The Animal stopped for a moment and scented the air. There was nothing unusual and the Protector of the Forest ran on. It had the shape of a gray wolf with yellow eyes that glowed brightly in the dimness of the crown of the forest.  
While It ran there were dark eyes watching It from one of the tree branches. The Animal had noticed nothing and watched only the ground while it ran.  
The Forest was an old creature and the Protector was just as old. It had been created just after the first tree had come up from the Earths Inner Core. The Forest was one of the Ancient, like the Sea, the Swamp, the Sky and the Inner Core.  
The Animal stopped once again and looked around, It had finally discovered what had caused It to run around and search. There were no animals around. The Animal showed teeth and, after a moment of hesitation, ran on, faster than before.  
What the other animals had noticed, long before the Animal, was the smell of evil and darkness in the air. They had quickly sought shelter wherever they could.  
The Animal, still with no knowledge of the eyes that watched It, ran to the First Tree. The tree that had started the Forest and that had come from the Inner Core.  
It stopped in front of it and then started to growl when it saw the creature sitting in the branches of the Tree. The creature smiled at It, but the smile was more of a showing of teeth. It jumped down unto the ground in front of the Protector and gestured with its hand towards the Tree. “If this Tree dies, then the whole of the Forest dies, right?” it asked with its raspy voice. The Animal’s only answer was the loud growling. The creature looked annoyed by the lack of response. Then it turned around and took a step toward the Tree and scratched a nail against the bark. Something black started seeping in through the hole and the creature grinned triumphant. It turned to the Animal who stared at the hole and the black substance. “That is poison, so-called Protector.” Said the creature and pointed to the hole. The Protector stared at the hole for another moment before a wild roar erupted from Its mouth, It leaped toward the unknown creature, but it was fast and it hopped grinning in between the Forest’s trees. The Animal sprang after it and ran. But the longer the poison infected the Tree, the more the Animal began to feel faint. It crashed into trees and was scratched by branches. Then the creature jumped down from its perch in a tree and attacked the wounded Animal. Now it was the hunter who was the hunted.  
The Animal crashed through the underbrush roaring with pain. The animals that had hidden themselves came frightened out and were killed by the wild Animal.  
The poison, which had also infected It from the wounds caused by the creature, started to work faster. The muddled Animal could now see enemies everywhere, every single animal and tree was an enemy.  
Unknowing of it, something similar had happened to the other Ancient places. The Sea’s Protector was also in the process of going mad; It attacked all things living underwater, because something had poured poison into the Water.  
The Swamp’s Protector had killed what had been sent with poison, but too late. In the Sky a poison gas had been sent up and had blackened the Sun and the Bird, Protector of the Sky, was despairing.

And while all this was happening, the Creature, the lord of the Inner Core, sat and watched the destruction, while the human at Its side mixed more poison.  
“Ha, ha, ha!” the Creatures laughter made the glass on the human’s table clink together and the human grit his teeth in irritation. The Creature looked down at the man and the broad smile on Its face became even broader. “A perfect plan, my good friend. Perfect!” It said and leaned back. The human huffed and looked up at it. “Of course it was perfect, it was thought out by you!” he snapped. “Yes, yes, of course” said the Creature and yawned, “I think I’ll take a nap.” Then It stretched and got up from Its chair. It then went to another room. The human watched It leave and then shook his head, glancing over at a dark part of the wall.

 

The people rushed around the castle and it was hard to even move. Kain, a kitchen boy, was trapped in the middle of the rush. His forehead was wrinkled in an irritated scowl. He held the tray high above his head, so that it wouldn’t be pushed or dropped on the floor. He had finally pushed himself out of the crowd, when a courier bumped into him. He almost dropped his tray, but saved it in the last moment. The courier looked apologetic at him and then rushed on; he stopped in front of a door and knocked three times.  
The door opened and a man stepped out. The courier was pulled into the room and the man looked around and noticed Kain. He took one look at the tray in Kain’s hands and gestured for Kain to come closer. Kain looked around before shrugging and coming over, following the man into the room. The man closed the door behind him and then turned to Kain. “Do not under any circumstance tell anyone of what you hear in here, understood?” The man looked tough so Kain hurried to nod. “Good, just give the people something to drink.” The man turned away and went to sit in a chair next to the door.  
Kain turned to the others in the room. They sat at a round table with seven chairs around it. The courier sat in the one closest to Kain. Kain swallowed the lump in his throat and then went over there. He handed the talking courier a glass and watched as he hurriedly drank it before quickly continuing his report. Kain started listening while he went on. “And It’s attacking everything It sees! They’ve told that they managed to get to see the Tree, and that it was completely black!” Kain’s forehead furrowed as he handed out the next glass. It was to an older gentleman with a beard and startled, Kain noticed that it was the General! He hurried on to the next. “And by the Lake the water has turned completely black and so has the Sea!” The next person was a younger man who sat with his face hidden in his hand. When Kain handed him a glass and the young man took it with the hand hiding his face, he discovered it was the Strategist.  
Kain went to the next person. “The gas of the Swamp has also turned black. And the Sky has turned dark.” The courier stopped speaking then and looked down. Kain handed the next person a glass, when the person spoke. “There’s something you’d like to say?” he asked kindly and Kain stopped and stared when he saw that it was the King. The courier looked up and bit his lip. “Yes, it was just that…” he stopped speaking once more and Kain handed the next glass to the next person. It was the Advisor.  
“Yes?” the King smiled at the courier. “There isn’t anything wrong with the Core…” The courier looked away and the King leaned back and sighed. “Yes, so have we discovered.” The Advisor leaned forward pressing her hands to the table. “And the sample? They took a sample from the Tree, did they not?” The courier quickly leaned down and reached into his bag, fishing something out. He quickly passed it to the person next to him. The Professor.  
Next person in the circle was the Professor’s Assistant. Kain handed him a glass. When he got to the last glass, the Professor accidently hit it out of his hands and also dropped the sample on the floor. “My apologies!” he said, “would you hand me that sample? My back isn’t what it’s been.” Kain hurried to pick it up, but cut himself on one of the shards of glass. He took the sample and gave it to the Professor. A drop of blood ran into the bag. The Professor took the sample and looked closer at it. Then he looked up again. “It’s Ugur poison.” he said sadly. “Ugur! But there’s no cure for that!” said the General and hit the table. Then an exclamation came from the Professor and everyone looked over. “A miracle!” he yelled and stared closely at the sample. “What?” the Advisor leaned even further forward to see. “The young man,” and here he gesticulated violently with his hand in the direction of the shocked Kain, “his blood! It really is a miracle, his blood is a cure!” he reached forward with the sample so everyone could see that where the blood had hit the sample, the blackness was washed away and that it was working the other blackness away as well. They all stared at it or a moment before straightening up. The King glanced at Kain before opening his mouth, “are you certain that the cure isn’t just blood?” The Professor nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes! We’ve tried using blood before!” They all looked around at each other before turning to Kain.  
“What do you say, young man? Want to go on a trip around the country?” asked the Advisor. Kain blinked. This had been a completely ordinary day before he had been dragged into this room and proclaimed a cure. He swallowed a lump in his throat and closed his eyes, before slowly nodding. “Good, good!” The General got up, “I’ll get him equipped while you find out who to send with him!” The General went to Kain grabbed his arm and then started dragging him somewhere.

 

Kain had tried riding a horse before. But this? This was Core Horses! It didn’t help that when he tried his first time to get it to listen, the General said he was a natural.  
Kain glanced at the person on the other Horse. He hadn’t said a thing since they had rode away from the City. And the only thing he said before they rode out was; “My name is Liam.” Kain shook his head and tried to look at it from the bright side. If he succeeded at this he’d be famous as a hero. He tried to avoid thinking about that if he failed he’d be dead.

 

They stopped at the edge of the Forest and got off their Horses. The Horses wouldn’t be able to enter. Liam took the Horses to a tree and tied them to it. Then they went in.  
Kain ducked another branch and sighed. Then he took another step and was suddenly in a tunnel made of broken branches. Liam stepped out behind him and looked around, then he heard a sound and threw both himself and Kain to the ground. A giant animal jumped straight over them. When they got up they were in front of the Animal. Liam took a combat position, but the Animal turned to Kain. It swiped with a giant paw and got a scratch in, It roared and went to attack. But suddenly It stiffened. Then It looked down at Its paw and started licking it, Its eyes, that before had been an angry red, were now bright yellow. Kain reached for the wound on his chest and understood that it really had been his blood that cured It. The Animal motioned for them to jump on Its back. They hesitated a little before doing it, Liam helping Kain without a word. Then they blew through the Forest.  
They stopped in front of the Tree. It was almost completely black and had no leaves remaining in its crown. It hurt Kain deep in his heart to see this. He stepped over and discovered the original hole. He reached with his hand into his wound and put some blood on his hand, making a grimace from the pain. Then he reached over and put the blood into the hole. The improvement showed immediately. The blackness started fading and the Animal, who was the Protector again, sighed with relief.  
It turned to Kain and bent his neck down, It then sniffed the wound and started licking it. At first it hurt, but when the Animal stopped they all watched the wound just close. The Animal gave him a wolfish grin and they climbed onto Its back again. In no time they were outside the Forest again and waved while walking to their Horses.

 

They stopped at the beach. Kain had almost frozen at the sight of the inky-black Sea. He looked over at Liam and saw him also staring out there.  
They started walking and Kain took out a knife. He carefully cut himself in the finger and let the drops drip into the water. It started bobbling and a whale appeared. Its wounded forehead closed itself while they watched and they were allowed to crawl onto it. Then it dived. Kain was startled and tried holding his breath as long as he could before he had to breathe. He gasped and felt the water come into his mouth, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. He could breathe!  
Kain glanced back at Liam, who raised an eyebrow, breathing easily. Kain quickly turned back, blushing embarrassedly.  
They came further down and then approached something black. It was a giant black pearl. Kain understood that the whale was the Whale and that this pearl was the Origin of the Sea, like the First Tree was the Forest’s.  
Kain took a couple of strokes himself and then took out the knife again. The blood almost seeped into the Pearl and the darkness disappeared like smoke. The Whale heaved a sigh of relief, disturbing the water around them and shot for the surface again. Liam only just managed to get Kain unto the Whale once again.  
They crawled onto land on the beach and went tired over to their Horses.

 

The Swamp was filled with a reeking odor. Kain held his nose, for this swamp gas was black. He quickly withdrew his foot from something gooey and cringed from the gross noise it made. They were accompanied by the humanlike Fish who was the Protector of the Swamp. They reached the Origin of the Swamp. The Fish gestured with Its hand and something gooey flew off it. Kain stepped over to the Source, where the smell was strongest and dripped some blood on it. Immediately another color gas started coming up. Yellow. The Fish clapped Its hands. And started leading them out again. The smell hadn’t even improved. When the Protector couldn’t hear it, Kain mentioned his thought to Liam, who shook his head. But Kain could have sworn he looked amused.

 

They stood on the tallest cliff and stared up at the black Sun. They had no ideas on how to reach it. Then they heard a shrill cry and discovered frightened, the Bird flying towards them. It landed and glowered at them. Then It shook Its head and caught them in Its claws. It flapped Its wings powerfully and flew up towards the Sun.  
While they hanged there Kain expected the worst. Liam glanced at him and then said in his somewhat monotone voice; “I don’t believe It’s poisoned, but just that It doesn’t like humans. It probably wants us to cure Its Sun quickly, so that we can leave.” Kain stared at Liam and then nodded, feeling slightly better.  
The Bird flew directly above the Sun and Kain got the knife maneuvered up into his hand and cut himself. The drop of blood flew easily down onto the Sun and it started glowing yellow again. The Bird screeched triumphantly and then flew down to the ground again. But It landed right next to a dark hole.  
It let go of them and flew away. Liam landed easily on his feet and luckily caught Kain as well, who felt grateful for not having even more wounds.  
“It’s the Hole.” Liam approached the edge after letting go of Kain.  
“The one that leads to the Inner Core?” asked Kain shocked. Liam nodded. Then he stepped down and Kain hurried after.

 

The halls were dark. And Kain ran a little to keep up with Liam. Then they suddenly emerged into a big room. In one side of the room was a dark abyss and in the other stood a creature and a man.  
Kain stepped shocked forward. “Dad?” The man turned and looked surprised at Kain. “Ha, ha, ha! Your child? Your child!” the Creature next to him pointed at the screen next to it. It showed all the rescued Ancients.  
Kain’s dad sighed and took a step forward. “I’ve been forced to make poison. He has your mother!” Kain stared at the Creature, who smiled. ”Yes yes! I do” It walked over to the abyss and looked down. The It gestured towards it. “This is the Dark Abyss. She’d be thrown down there! Ha ha!” Kain almost started crying.  
Liam poked him on the shoulder and motioned to him while the Creature was busy gloating. Kain opened his eyes wide when he understood what Liam wanted them to do. Then he shook his head and pulled himself together. They all turned to the Creature who was still laughing at Its own perfect plan. Then they all ran at it, even Kain’s father, and pushed as hard as they could. It didn’t discover what they planned before It had already fallen. Its screams went on for a long time, until they could not hear it anymore.  
They stood there relieved. Then the father ran to a door on the end of the room, shrouded in shadow and hard to see, got it kicked open and Kain’s mother ran out and embraced them both. Then they walked back through the path and started going up.  
At the exit Liam stayed. Kain and his family looked back confused and for the first time Liam smiled. “I’m staying here. I am to be the new Protector of the Inner Core.” Kain stared at him.  
“That’s why I’m the one who accompanied you.” Liam shrugged. Kain hugged him before they left.  
Kain sat on one of the Horses with his mom, and his dad sat on the other. Kain waved as they went, and after what Kain knew was Liam raising an eyebrow, Liam waved back.

 

As they arrived back they told the whole story. And to this day in their world, they’re still telling the stories of Kain with the magic blood and Liam the Protector of the Inner Core.


End file.
